New Milford Police Department working to replenish the troops after wave of retirements

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NEW MILFORD -- Police Chief Shawn Boyne's first week on the job has been a busy one.

As the department starts to rebuild after an unprecedented seven retirements at once this summer -- the three top administrators, including former Chief Colin McCormack, two detectives, the high school resource officer and a veteran patrol officer -- Boyne offered the nod for two more police recruits, Collin Marino, 25, of Litchfield and Rayden Arnold, 25, of Glastonbury. Rayden and Marino, the son of a veteran department detective Henry Marino, will start the State Police Academy on Friday. They will join two others hired this summer, Brian Peloso and David Petersen, both now halfway through their 26-week academy training.

The department is budgeted for 35 patrol officers, four detectives and eight sergeants; three administrative officers and a chief.

In May, the police started accepting applications for the upcoming patrol positions and received some 155 applications, said Lt. Mark Buckley, who last month was promoted to his administrative post. These four recruits were hired from the top of the list of 10 finalists.

"That really means something. These are young men who shined in the process,'' Buckley said of Marino and Arnold.

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The Police Department is working to replenish its ranks with the addition of two additional patrol officers, Collin Marino and Rayden Arnold. The two will join two other recruits, Brian Peloso and David Petersen, at the State Police Academy in Meriden, where they will undergo 26 weeks of training before they then begin 13 weeks of field training to become department patrol officers.
Police Chief Shawn Boyne also will soon be selecting a second-in-command and determining other promotion possibilities.

Marino has a bachelor's degree in business from Central Connecticut State University and has been working as a carpenter. Arnold has an associate's degree in business from Manchester Community College and is working toward his bachelor's degree in criminal justice at Central Connecticut State University, where he is now a senior.

As these two both begin a course that was not their initial career path, they are excited about the growth potential and the chance to make a difference in the lives of others. Arnold said he is particularly interested in the community policing that Boyne advocates, a brand of police work that focus on officers mingling with the public on a regular basis so as to deter crime rather than simply making arrests once a crime occurs.

Likewise, Marino said he welcomes the chance to have a career that offers great opportunities for personal and professional growth, and is looking forward to being part of a community.

As for his son's decision to follow in his footsteps, the elder Marino said that came as a surprise. He said he has never encouraged any of his four children to pursue law enforcement, indeed he may have tried to steer them away because he knows the family sacrifices, and danger, inherent to the profession. But when his eldest son said he wanted to pursue police work -- he was on other department lists -- the detective did not interfere.